Improving Clarity and Confidence in Hall & Prior’s Future Operating Model
Hall & Prior, a leading aged care provider in Australia, engaged SMC to gain a clear understanding of their current operating model and define a future-ready vision for finance and operations.
The engagement was delivered under SMC’s former Analyse & Blueprint methodology. Today, this work aligns to SMC’s current delivery model, spanning Strategy & Roadmap, Future-State Definition, and Transformation Leadership. This reflects the evolution of SMC’s methodology while preserving the rigour and outcomes delivered at the time.
The work provided the executive team with evidence-based insight into where change would deliver the most value and enabled grounded decisions about future transformation priorities.
Key outcomes included:
- A validated understanding of current challenges and operational constraints
- A clearly articulated future-state (“could-be”) operating model across core finance and operational functions
- Practical technology concepts aligned to long-term success
- High-quality, decision-ready outputs for executive leadership
- Independent, experience-backed advisory to navigate complexity
About Hall & Prior
Hall & Prior is a respected health and aged care group operating residential aged care services and home care programs across multiple Australian states. With a large workforce and a multi-facility operating model, the organisation manages complex financial, operational, and regulatory requirements.
As expectations around governance, reporting, and efficiency increased, Hall & Prior recognised the need to better understand how their organisation operated today and what a modern, scalable future could look like.
Manual Processes and Fragmented Systems Limiting Visibility
Prior to engaging SMC, Hall & Prior faced several challenges that constrained insight and increased operational efficiency.
These included:
- Manual, spreadsheet-driven processes across finance, budgeting, and reporting
- Fragmented systems with limited integration between facilities
- Limited visibility across sites and business units
- Labour-intensive reconciliations and manual data handling
- Inconsistent approaches to project accounting, fixed assets, and cash management
Together, these issues made it difficult for leadership to access timely information, strengthen governance, and plan confidently for future change. Hall & Prior sought an independent, senior advisor to provide objective analysis, structure, and clarity.
SMC Solution
SMC provided independent, client-side advisory support to analyse Hall & Prior’s current operating model and define a realistic, future-focused vision for finance and operations.
The engagement included:
- Structured assessment of current processes, systems, and ways of working
- Facilitated workshops with finance and operational stakeholders
- Clear “could-be” future-state concepts aligned to leading practice
- Actionable insights to guide transformation planning
- Trusted advisory informed by deep experience in aged care and complex organisations
The work considered people, process, technology, data, AI, and governance, ensuring a holistic view of what modern operations could look like for Hall & Prior.
A Structured Approach to Future-State Definition
SMC applied a disciplined approach aligned to its current transformation delivery model. While originally delivered as an Analyse & Blueprint engagement, the work maps directly to the following phases used by SMC today.
1. Strategy & Roadmap – Current State Understanding
SMC conducted detailed workshops across finance, budgeting, reporting, and operational areas to understand existing processes, systems, and constraints.
This phase included:
- As-is process and system walkthroughs
- Identification of pain points and inefficiencies
- Mapping of the current operating landscape
- Clear articulation of issues affecting performance, visibility, and control
This work established a robust baseline for improvement.
2. Future-State Definition – “Could-Be” Operating Model
SMC developed future-state concepts across core financial and operational functions. These “could-be” models explored opportunities such as:
- Increased automation
- Improved system integration
- Exception-based reporting
- Streamlined workflows and clearer accountability
Playback sessions with business stakeholders were used to validate ideas and ensure the future-state vision was practical and achievable.
3. Transformation Leadership – Direction and Decision Support
SMC provided independent guidance on:
- Organisational implications of change
- Risks, dependencies, and constraints
- Value levers and prioritisation
This helped leadership understand what was achievable, where to focus first, and how to approach future transformation phases with confidence.
4. Executive Outcomes and Alignment
Clear, well-structured deliverables were presented to senior leaders, providing:
- A shared understanding of the current state
- A coherent future-state vision
- Practical insights to inform next-phase decisions
This ensured alignment at an executive level and supported confident planning for subsequent transformation work.
Clear Direction and Confidence to Move Forward
SMC’s work gave Hall & Prior the clarity and confidence required to progress their transformation journey.
Key results included:
- A clear future-state operating model covering finance management, enterprise budgeting, cash and bank management, project cost accounting, fixed assets, maintenance, and reporting
- Clear insight into system improvement priorities, including where integration, automation, ERP-native reporting, and stronger data governance are required
- A validated set of challenges and opportunities, with approximately 130 pain points identified across process, system, data, and people dimensions
- Practical, experience-backed advice grounded in SMC’s work across aged care and similar environments
- A strong foundation for transformation, supporting future ERP advisory, finance transformation, or broader digital modernisation
Frequently Asked Questions
Analyse & Blueprint was SMC’s earlier term for early-stage transformation work. Today, this approach is framed as Strategy & Roadmap, Future-State Definition, and Transformation Leadership. While the terminology has evolved, the underlying rigour and outcomes remain the same.
Aged care organisations operate in complex, highly regulated environments. This approach provides clarity on current challenges, defines a practical future-state, and reduces risk before major technology or transformation investments are made.
Yes. This work is designed to inform system selection by clarifying requirements, operating models, and priorities before vendors or platforms are considered.
“An incredibly professional engagement. Talented people with a great methodology delivered a very thorough analysis of our current state and could-be vision with well-presented, high-quality deliverables. Their advice, based on years of experience, was incredibly valuable to our team.”
— Jason Frost, CIO, Hall & Prior Health & Aged Care Group
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About the Author
Mile Dimkovski is Executive Director at SMC. With over 18 years’ experience in ERP, enterprise platforms, and digital transformation, he supports organisations to make confident, evidence-based decisions and translate strategy into practical outcomes. Mile works closely with executive teams to bring structure, clarity, and control to complex technology programs.